Rosewill Blackhawk-Ultra HPTX Computer Case

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article was provided by Rosewill Inc.

Some pundits see desktop computers as a dying breed (a Dilbert character recently referred to a co-worker's desktop computer as "a grandpa box"), and perhaps they are. Laptop and even tablet computers are now capable of fulfilling most people's needs, and even those who want or need a desktop machine could probably be satisfied with a micro-ATX motherboard in a small form factor case. Then there are those for whom even a full tower case is not enough: they need to install a dozen hard drives, or an elaborate water cooling system, or perhaps an HPTX motherboard. For those select few, Rosewill offers the Blackhawk Ultra computer case, the largest case Benchmark Reviews has ever tested.

Rosewill is one of the most product-diverse companies that sells consumer computer parts. In addition to cases, optical drives, power supplies, and other computer-related items, they also sell everything from camera bags to office shredders to medical equipment. They've been around for a while but it's safe to say that they're not the first or even the third thing that system builders looking for a computer case think of.

But maybe they should be. The Blackhawk Ultra is Rosewill's largest and most expensive case, designed to accommodate HPTX motherboards. While a standard ATX motherboard is 12" by 9.6", an HPTX motherboard is a whopping 13.6" by 15". As of the time of this writing there has only been one HPTX motherboard ever produced, EVGA's "SR-2". Even Intel's "Skulltrail" motherboard was only 13" by 12"!

Comments

Good, concise review David. I think you're pros and cons throughout were spot on. I'd hate to have to move that monstrosity. I'd hate to look at it too. It looks kinda like a "grandpa case." I'm in awe of it's size. I thought the Rosewill THOR v2 was huge at 22" x 23". This thing is gimongous.

I think my next build will be in a micro case. We'll see after I get one to review.

Otherwise, I think you mentioned in your HAF-X review that there are some cases that are so big as to be impractical ... hmm. This would be only good for somebody that doesn't want to move around a lot.

To be honest though, I'm not sure about who is to buy this case.

1. People who want a mobile case or something small are obviously going to skip

2. People who don't need an HPTX really don't need something like this. If you're getting something like the Asus ROG series XL ATX boards, there are other cases under $250 and many have a better build quality (ex: the power supply dust filter isn't so cheap)

3. People who can afford an HPTX probably can get something a bit ... higher end. At that price point, we're talking a motherboard that costs $600, 2 Xeons, and likely a lot of GPUs.

For that, there's cases like the Lian Li PC-P80N, the PC-V2120, or to go with something like the CaseLabs series of cases.

I guess it's for people that like big cases, but who don't want to (or cannot afford to) spend on something costlier?

Chris, I think a case like the Cooler Master Storm Trooper is better for most people, and costs slightly less to boot. The Blackhawk Ultra wins if you actually have an HPTX motherboard, or have another need for lots of interior space, such as with an elaborate water cooling setup.

David said "I wish the case had better intake filtering...". Would someone please name some cases with excellent input filtering. I have foam mesh velcroed over my inputs. It is really ugly but it makes a big difference on the inside.

There are some. The Cooler Master Silencio 550 has a nice and easy to clean filter. the Silverstone PS07 micro case has a really nice filter system. I hear you. When I review cases, one of my pet peeves is easy to clean front /side/bottom filters.

I have run the inexpensive ($80.00) NZXT Tempest for 3 years now. It has foam inserts under the front bezel and fine mesh screens over the front intake fans. The side intake fan has a very fine metal mesh cover. My inside is almost as clean as day 1. I clean the filters every 6 mos.

Pretty much the entire Corsair lineup have filter mesh that is removable for cleaning.

Of course, some people change around their fan setup. For example, many people install closed-loop water coolers. The manufacturers recommend using them as intake. So, you may find yourself taking what was an exhaust and making it into an intake for a rad like the H100 or H80. If you did that you may be looking for filters again.

There are a few companies that make professional intake filters for various cases. There is one company in South Africa that makes a great filter kit for the Corsair 600T so even if you use the stock top exhaust area as an intake (for the H100) you can still have an easily removable filter. I believe the kit comes with filters for all the fan spots including the side panel mesh that can mount 4 120mm fans.

If you give them dimensions they will custom make filters for just about any case. If you drop by overclock.net you can likely find them by doing a search for South Africa or 600T filters.

Personally I like the plane looks of this case, and the room is great. This case has almost every feature you look for in a great case. I do have a couple of beefs though. You cannot remove the front 3.5" drive cages or separate them for better air flow.

Also, the biggest beef in my opinion, only 4 5 1/4" bays on a full tower case? My 600T mid tower has four external bays. A lot of people with water cooling builds (a market this case is obviously aimed at) could fill up those four bays with just two duel bay reservoirs. Many water coolers will have two loops. If they did use two reses, there would be nowhere left for fan controllers, card readers, optical drives or any other 5 1/4 device. Even the Half 932 you showed beside it has more external bays and it's a smaller case.

I really like everything else about this case and I'm sure they will sell many of them to people who don't need the extra external bays.

I'm not really complaining. I realize not everyone doing a water build wants bay reses and most cases don't allow removal of the hard drive bays anyway. It's a nice case, I just thought any full tower should have more external bays.

For building the most powerful, most silent air-cooled gaming rig possible today from commercially available parts, I really don't see any equal to this case.

$200 for this case + $270 for the cheapest 4-way SLI GA-X79-UD3 motherboard + $600 i7 3930k under a $90 phantek cooler overclocked as near to 5ghz as you can + four $600 EVGA GTX 580 Classified Ultra video cards voltage tweaked and overclocked beyond 1 ghz + two $220 Seasonic Platinum 860W PSUs installed in top and bottom and sharing the load + Memory and storage of your choice. Even if there is another case that can accommodate such a build I don't believe it will be as cool or as quite as this case.

Now get your choice of three 120hz 3d displays and hook them up to this rig. Play the newest games on the highest settings in 5760x1080 resolution without sounding like an air jet or exploding. The only item missing is $6,000.

Credit goes to Rosewill for this case. PC cases should do their simple job without asking too much $$$ in return for brand, looks and other stuff that a self-respecting money-earning gamer does not care about. I don't know who the original manufacturer is (some Chinese company) but this case has been licensed as two other models, Enermax Fulmo GT and Xigmatek Elysium but neither had multiple high quality fans as the BlackHawkUltra.

thank you for a great review . benchmark is my go to site for all computer parts opinions . the rosewill blackhawk ultra hptx super tower computer case is the best computer case ever designed . i love the giant size and the unassuming exterior and the front side and top red led fans . plus the fact that it has no logo or badge anywhere on the outside of the case is brilliant . i hate badges and logos . there is no front door .... i really dislike front doors on a computer case . there are plenty of fans included and the interior is painted black . the rosewill blackhawk ultra might be heavy but that is why they include casters . this is the best computer case under two hundred dollars and possibly the greatest case at any price . i am ordering my rosewill blackhawk ultra immediately . thank you .

dear david i love the giant size and plain appearance of the rosewill blackhawk ultra . having no brand label on the exterior is ultra cool . one thing though -- i like the red led fans ( and will probably add even more of them ) but is there a relatively easy way to mount a simple on / off switch on the red leds so that i can switch off the red leds without switching off the fans ? sometimes i would like the red glow but sometimes i just want no lights at all . did i notice in your review that there is some kind of fan plug in module ? could that be modded with an on / off switch that only turns off the leds ? i do not want or need multi colored fans - red is just fine with me - and i do not want a fancy fan controller with rheostats . i just want an on / off switch that will turn off the red leds whenever the mood strikes me . besides the omission of a red led light switch the rosewill blackhawk ultra is in my humble opinion the best computer case ever designed for around $150 usd street . thank you for your feedback and suggestions .